


Winter Spring

by fumomoshi



Category: Original Work, Splatoon
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-05-15 10:34:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14788880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fumomoshi/pseuds/fumomoshi
Summary: Splatoon AU.Karu asks Sui. Is it a date?





	1. Chapter 1

“Hey Sui, are you free this Saturday?” Karu asked. 

Sui was startled. It was rare of Karu to speak in such a ‘normal’ tone, let alone ask for anything. Normally, he would converse in his usual upbeat energy, causing Sui to feel as if something is slightly amiss. 

Is Karu formally asking him out?  _ Calm down Sui, you are reading too much into things again. It’s probably just another normal outing. Normal. _

“Sui? Are you free this Saturday?” Karu asked again. 

This time Sui forced a response. “Maybe,” he replied as normally as he could.  _ Relax and respond normally _ . “What’s up?”

“Ah, there’s a small fair going on downtown near the port. Do you want to go? It will be fun!” Karu’s tone reverted back to his usual upbeat self. “We will get to play all sorts of games and eat all sorts of stuff!”

Sui looked outside the window. It was winter and he did not like cold places very much. The fair is going to be even colder since it is taking place near the port. Just thinking about the strong winds caused a troubled look to form on his face.

But then again, he did not have anything to do on Saturday. His siblings are going to be out on some school excursion and he had already taken care of his part of the household chores. There is no real reason to refuse other than him not liking the cold. 

_ And going to a fair would be nice. Playing games, eating food.  _ A voice in his head whispered.  _ With Karu… _

Sui took a swig of his drink and turned his glance slightly away from Karu as he entertained that thought for a bit.  _ With Karu, huh… _

“Sui?” Karu asked again.

“Oh sorry,” Sui apologized. “I should be free though.” 

Karu gave a huge smile, a smile so huge that Sui found it adorable. It was almost as if he had been searching for someone to accompany him the entire week but no one was able to join.  _ Ah, that might be it? I guess everyone else is busy on Saturday. _

“It’s decided then! Let’s meet at Saturday noon at the pier then!” Karu declared. He gave a hearty happy chuckle as he turn to leave. “I have some errands to run for Rako so I’ll be going off first!”

Sui slumped back down in his seat as silence returned to his seat. He sighed. Recently he had been hanging around with Karu a bit to the randomest of places which he did not even knew existed. 

And he enjoyed every moment of it.

_ It’s strange, we are so different though.  _ He had thought about this before but could not entirely figure out what made them get along so well. When they first met, he was sure that they would not get along at all.  _ I wonder if Karu thinks so as well. Probably not? _

“Yo.”

Sui turned to see Rako smiling at him. He placed a glass of warm water on Sui’s table. “Ah, thanks,” Sui said as Rako started cleaning up his drink. 

“I guess spring is coming early for you,” Rako commented. 

Sui gave a confused look.  _ Is he talking about the water? _ “I guess so. It’s warm, after all.” He sipped and cringed a little at the warmth of the water entering his mouth.  

“Hahaha! That’s great, that’s great,” Rako gave an amused laugh and patted Sui’s head before turning back to his work. “Well, I hope you enjoy yourself. It might be getting cold.”

_ Of course it’s getting cold, what is he talking about?  _ Sui become even more confused. He was starting to doubt that they were talking about the same thing.  _ Or maybe he’s talking about the weather? That makes more sense. _

He took another sip of water and took some comfort in its warmth. He glanced over to Rako at the counter who was in his usual self, happily serving drinks to occasional customers. 

_ Hmm, maybe Rako hates the cold too…? _

 

****


	2. Chapter 2

Sui sank into his thick woolen scarf, the warm soft cloth embracing the bottom half of his face. He let out numerous breaths to warm his face.

_ Karu means this spot right? _

Karu did mention to him to meet at the pier, and this should be their usual meeting spot at that area. “This is the spot to meet him, right?” Sui mumbled into his scarf. He wanted to take out his phone to check for messages from Karu, but it was difficult to fight against thought of the cold numbing his hands. 

“SUI~!”

Suddenly Sui felt the world crushing onto him. The strength in his legs gave way to the sudden addition of Karu’s weight from behind, causing both of them to crash awkwardly onto the ground.

"...heavy..." Sui could only manage a single word. He could barely breathe with his body flattened front-first onto the ground by Karu's.

"Sui?! Are you okay?!"

Karu tried to get up. He pushed his body upwards, adding additional weight onto Sui, who reactively exhaled a muffled groan.

"Sui! Are you okay?!" Karu repeated. 

It took Sui almost all his might to speak. "Karu, you are heavy..." was all he could manage. The fact that Karu did not move away immediately made him realize and regret his choice of words.

"What are you talking about? I'm not fat!"

_ No Karu, that's not what I meant. _

* * *

 

"Ahaha!" 

Karu grabbed Sui's hand and pulled him up. Sui felt the world zoom past him so fast that he could hear a soft wind. When he reached his standing position, his legs, not ready for the force, began to lose balance again, causing him to start falling forward. 

“Whoa, careful!” 

The shorter Karu quickly leaned his body against Sui to support him from falling. Sui staggered a bit as he tried to regain his footing. 

“Ah, I’m fine.” Sui said. As he recovered, he looked at Karu’s small stature and felt rather amazed at the gap in their physical strength. 

_ It's only natural right? After all, he uses a Roller,  _ he thought, but somehow Karu is shorter and has a smaller frame. And older too.  _ Looks are really deceiving. _

“Ahaha, sorry I think I used too much strength!” Karu laughed and gave Sui a few pats on the back. “You need to eat and workout more, though! You are too light!”

Sui could only smile wryly at the comment. He adjusted his scarf and his cap, slowing dispelling the cold away from his face. “It’s cold now. Maybe when spring comes.” He said. 

Karu folded his arms and shook his head. “You’ll never get kills this way!” He grinned. “C’mon, let’s go to the fair! I’ll make sure you’ll eat lots!”

As Karu skipped ahead, Sui gave a small smile behind his scarf. 

_ It’s weird. It’s like having a younger dependable brother. _


	3. Chapter 3

The fair was bustling with activity. Merchants, consumers and tents filled the port as far as the eye can see. There was so much movement, so much people and so much yelling that Sui felt a bit overwhelmed.

“Sui! Look at this!” Sui heard Karu cry. He was standing in front of a store of ceramics, admiring at the display. “These are beautiful!” Karu remarked. 

“I had no idea you liked ceramics,” Sui commented as he walked up to Karu. 

Karu gave a wide smile. “I don’t  _ hate _ them, so I like them, right?” 

Sui was taken aback. He never looked at anything that way before. And he was amazed by the simplicity of the statement.  _ If I don’t hate them, I like them…? Is there something that I truly feel neutral about? _ His eyes widened as he reached an epiphany, running the statement against everything he could think of.

“Ahaha, Sui.” Karu chuckled and gave several pats on Sui’s back, bringing him back to reality. “You are thinking too much! Ceramics are nice things, that’s all there is to it!”

_ That’s all there is to it, huh?   _ Sui managed a soft smile. Karu is so simple and straightforward, but at the same time, he felt complexity in his simplicity. 

It felt...refreshing, somehow. 

“Oh Sui, look!” Karu exclaimed suddenly.  Sui looked towards where he was looking and saw a row of tents with what seemed like games, the kind of games which you would expect from a fair. 

“Are we playing?” Sui asked. He never really understood the point of paying to play, especially with a chance of not getting anything back. 

Karu pulled Sui along. “Of course we are!” He yipped excitedly like a puppy, his eyes gleaming brightly. “C’mon, it’ll be fun!” 

_ Fun, huh?  _ Sui considered. He looked at the excitement written all over Karu’s face and could not help but feel that they are going to have some after all.

* * *

 

“Thank you for trying!” The lady game attendant chimed. 

“Argh!” Karu placed the dummy rifle back with a bitter look on his face. He had been trying this rifle game for a few times now, but was not able to get any prize out of it. 

Sui gave a confused look. “Karu, isn’t this just like Inkzooka?” He asked. 

“That’s a ‘zooka, Sui! It’s different!” Karu said as he reached into his pocket for change and handed the game attendant a bunch of coins. “One more time!”

Sui gave a chuckle. He did not know if Karu was having fun, but it was fun to watch him try.  

Karu picked up the rifle again and started to aim.  _ Hmm?  _ Sui raised an eyebrow. Now that he was actually looking at Karu, he realized that Karu’s posture was completely off. He shook his head.  _ He will never hit anything that way.  _

Sui leaned down to help. 

“Mmph? S-Sui?” Karu stuttered. He felt Sui’s body leaning onto him. At the corner of his eye, he saw that Sui’s face was close, so close that he could hear his breathing. “Sui?”

“Your pose is terrible,” Sui commented as he started to nudge Karu’s body into right posture. Karu gave several uncomfortable yelps as Sui adjusted his body. He always did things his way and never had anyone handhold him like this before. “Stop making weird noises!”

“W-wait, S-Sui! W-whoa!” Karu almost ran out of breath trying to stay on his feet with all the adjustments. Sui finally stopped, but did not move away from him. He felt Sui shift his rifle’s aim slowly towards the target. 

“Okay, Karu. Take a deep breath, and fire,” Sui instructed as he slowly released his hold on Karu. Karu did as he was told. He took a deep breath, and pulled the trigger. The shot rang true as it knocked a stuffed toy octopus off the shelf. 

“Congratulations!” The attendant declared as she took out a bell and rang it repeatedly before picking up the toy.

Karu face had a look of amazement, excitement and joy. “Ahaha! We did it, Sui!” He jumped up and down repeatedly. “We did it!”  

“Congratulations!” The attendant repeated as she handed Karu not one, but two octopus toys. She noticed Karu’s confused look and waved her hands to reassure him.  

“Ohoho! Don’t worry about it!” The attendant gave a smile. “Consider it a service!” 

Sui nodded his head. “Hmm, she must be getting married.” He said to Karu. 

The confusion left Karu’s face. 

“I see! Congratulations, miss!” Karu bowed before they left, leaving the store attendant herself with a confused look this time.


	4. Chapter 4

The sun started to set. As the temperature slowly fell, so did the density of people in the fair. To make matters worse, the sea breeze also started to pick up, bringing heavy gusts of cold air towards the port. 

“I got them!” Sui heard Karu from a distance. Karu had gone to buy some buns from a nearby booth, the final booth they are visiting, before heading off. He approached Sui and took a bun out from the paper bag. “Do you want one?”

Sui was stuffed. For the past hour or so, they have been buying nothing but food. They had eaten a variety of food from ice cream to pastries to frankfurter to fried meat to fruits. Sui felt like he had eaten the world and there was no space left in his stomach. 

“It’s okay, I’m already full.” Sui said. 

“You sure? You should eat more!” Karu proceeded to munch on the bun as both of them started walking away from the fair. “Mmm! It’s delicious!” 

_ How much do you eat? _ Sui was genuinely curious as he looked at Karu’s frame.  _ And where do all the food go? _

A gust of wind blew. This one was stronger than the ones before, causing Sui to squirm and take refuge behind his winter wear. He turned to check on Karu and was surprised to see his face frozen in place and eyes wide open. 

“Uwah! C-cold!” Karu exclaimed in mild shock with his mouth filled with bun.

Sui gave a sigh. He unwrapped a part of his scarf and placed it around Karu.  _ It’s like taking care of a little brother _ , he thought. He watched Karu fidgeting and adjusting the scarf as the warmth returned to his face.

“Ah, this is so comfortable!” Karu remarked, taking another bite of the bun. 

“You should take care of yourself,” Sui said. “Don’t you own a scarf? Winter only just started and it is only going to get colder.”

“Scamf ah annroying,” Karu struggled to speak. He forced his food down and repeated. “Scarfs are annoying, though. I don’t really like things on my face.”

_ Oi oi, you don’t have to force your food down just to reply.  _ Sui shook his head. “Still, you should take care of yourself. What if you caught a cold?” He unwrapped the rest of his scarf and placed it on Karu. “Here I’ll give you mine.”

Karu almost looked like he was about to faint from comfort and warmth. “Uwah! I didn’t know scarfs can be this comfy!” He said as he took out another bun to eat. “But what about Sui? Don’t you feel cold?” 

“I brought extra,” Sui said, pulling out another scarf from his bag and wrapping it around himself. 

“Haha! Wow, just how scared of the cold are you?” Karu laughed as he gobbled up the bun. “Ohh, I’m full,” he declared with a loud burp. “That was fun!”

A short silence fell as they walk towards the direction of Ikabucks where they would usually part ways. Sui was tired and kind of wanted to go home, but he also kind of wanted to spend a bit more time with Karu.  _ What a day _ . He thought.

“Say, Sui.” Karu broke the silence.

“Hmm?”

“Thanks for joining me.” 

_ Eh?  _ Sui thought he was hearing things. He thought he heard Karu speak in a serious, honest tone. “...Karu?”

“The fair was fun, wasn’t it!” Karu returned to his usual cheerful voice. “We ate and played so much, and I even learnt how to use a rifle! Say, does Sui know how to use a Charger?”

“A little,” Sui replied. “I don’t hate using it though, so I guess I like it?”

Karu bursted out laughing. “Ahaha! Oh god! Is that the statement I said earlier today? Sui, you are thinking too much again!” He gave the usual pats on Sui’s back. “You are too serious! You should let loose once in awhile.” 

Karu took out a piece of candy from his pocket and handed it to Sui. “Here!” 

“Wha…?”

“Just eat it, don’t worry too much about it!” Karu grinned. “Just enjoy it!” 

Sui popped the candy into his mouth. “It’s delicious,” he commented. He rarely had candy so this came as a pleasant surprise to him.  _ I should treat myself more _ , he thought as he munched. 

“Delicious, right?” Karu said. He reached into the paper bag and drew out another bun. “This is delicious too.” 

“You had one more?!” Sui was startled. “I thought...”

Karu passed the bun to Sui.  “You thought wrong. Eat it when you are feeling hungry again.” He gave yet another grin. “Don’t worry about it.”

Sui ate the bun several moments later after they parted ways. 

It was cold, but it was indeed delicious. 

In more ways than one.


	5. Chapter 5

“Uwah, I’m BORED!!” 

Karu let out an exasperated breath, the smoke from his mouth dissipated into the cold air. There was nothing to do recently. With Ikabucks getting busier due to the arrival of winter, Rako was put on a tight schedule, causing the team’s schedule to fall into hiatus. To make things worse, Ranked Matches are temporarily closed for a week to prepare for the cold weather.

_ Which means no splatting for some time.  _ Karu grimaced at the thought.  _ At least. _

He sighed as he wandered aimlessly around, his eyes scanning at every crook and nanny for anything that seems remotely interesting, looking for any signs of posters or fliers of events that he could hang out at, even for a day. He did not want to spend another day, let alone a week, lazing around Ikabucks watching Rudo volunteering to help Rako in his duties.

_ And Sui rarely drops by, _ he thought as he kicked a stray stone away from his path.

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew into his direction. Karu braced as he leaned against the wind. It was then he realized that he had wandered towards the port where the wind is usually strong due its distance from the sea.

As the wind slowly abated, he could hear faint sounds hammering and drilling from the direction of the port.  _ Hmm? What’s going on?  _ Karu thought. As he moved closer, the heavy hammering and drilling were slowly accompanied by yells and shouts. It was almost like a preparation of war, with some inklings yelling instructions and others pitching up tents and putting up scaffolding. 

Karu’s ears perked up excitedly.  _ Finally, something interesting!  _ he thought as a smile formed on his face. He looked around for someone who seemed free enough for him to inquire. At the sidelines of the ‘warzone’, he found a lady inkling, scrowling over the site in sunglasses with her arms folded. 

“Excuse me, missus!” He chirped.

The lady turned around and glared at him. “Can’t you see I’m busy?!” She scorned as she shifted her sunglasses. “What do you want, boy?!”

Karu did not even faze. “What’s going on?” He asked excited, pointing at the site, his smile getting wider. 

The lady seemed to soften up upon looking at Karu’s excitement, but she maintained her stern voice. “Well, this weekend, there will be a fair here,” she explained. “Games, food, music...whatever you name, we have it! It will be like Summer Festival, but in Winter! That will get people out of their houses!”

_ A fair…! _

Karu’s face brightened up so much that the lady started to get embarrassed. “Well, it’s not that much…” she muttered as she looked away. 

_ I can bring Sui here! We are going to have so much fun like the time we went to the Mid-Autumn Festival!  _ Karu’s excitement grew as he recalled the games they played, the jokes they shared and the food they ate. 

_ Finally! Something to do this weekend! _

The wind suddenly picked up again, sending his face slightly numb as the cold air grazed against his face.  The chill made Karu’s heart sink a little, his smile fading. He realized that it might be difficult to convince Sui to go considering that it is winter now. Sui is quite vulnerable to cold. Even in autumn, he was already wearing winterwear. 

_ Well, I’ll never know unless I ask,  _ Karu thought in attempt to dispel his worries

_ I can always go without Sui _ .

A part of him was not sure about that.


End file.
